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Kent State’s Center for Innovation in Transition and Employment to Host Symposium May 2-3

Posted Mar. 11, 2014

The Center for Innovation in Transition and Employment at Kent State University will host the 2014 Kent Transition Symposium on May 2-3. The symposium, which will be held at the Kent Campus and the new Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center located in downtown Kent, is intended for students, parents, school educators and administrators.

Breakout sessions will provide participants with information about the four-year, non-degree Career and Community Studies college program and the Kent State Transition Collaborative’s Job Training and Career Exploration programs. Topics will include information on the requirements of each opportunity; what students, parents, and schools need to know to get ready for a college or work experience; and how the thread of self-determination knits all areas together.

The Career and Community Studies program is for the student with intellectual disabilities who is interested in a college experience to advance his or her career interests.

“College is one of the first places where one begins to figure out who they are, what they believe and how one wants to contribute to life,” said Vonnie Michali, director of the Career and Community Studies program at Kent State. “Interacting with peers who are going through the same experience has been extremely beneficial for the Career and Community Studies students who may not have had this chance otherwise.”

The Kent State Transition Collaborative programs offer opportunities for students with disabilities to gain work experience, explore different work environments and identify personal strengths and interests.

“We receive students who are well-prepared and eager to learn how to claim their place in the adult world of work,” said Babette Cameron, project director of the Kent State Transition Collaborative. “They meet our highly-trained staff eager to facilitate this self-determination, and our employers who actually need them both to succeed. It is a process that works, and we are all proud to be a part of it.”